by Beth Snow
Bilingual and cross-cultural collections can represent an added challenge when it comes to genre names and search terms. Japanese comics and animation are good examples. Stopping the search terms with the words "manga" or "anime" can have the same effect as not going past the word "fiction" to describe the entire spectrum of novels. In addition, a good portion of our target audience is tuned into the Japanese terms for genres of manga.
To that end, I recommend we incorporate these terms into the cataloging/search descriptors for our collection. The Wikipedia article on manga offers excellent background about the form, but it's definitions are a bit messy. This link on a website devoted to explaining manga and anime to librarians does a more concise job of introducing the terms.
Showing posts with label description. Show all posts
Showing posts with label description. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Series Records - Going Beyond the Titles
by Beth Snow
A big consideration when it comes to cataloging and subject headings will be the ability to locate titles in a series.
I'm not refering to actual serials publications such as the DC/Marvel/Cartoon Network subscriptions--Justice League/Fantastic Four/Cartoon Block Party, et al--but to those works with a continuing storyline and actually published in a series of individual volumes that may look like independent editions to the uninitiated. Manga usually falls into this category:
Unlike fiction which may use a separate, distinct title for each book in a series, manga is distinguished by a number; thus, our patrons will be looking for a series title with a number listing--Fruits Basket 14, Bleach 2, etc. Teens will expect to search for a title, examine a list, and choose the volume they want.
To support access and service to patrons, I believe we should include a series search function: have a title search pull up a series name with a list of volumes in numerical order, have a series line in each record listing the name of series and volume number, have a cross-reference link to a spin-off series (Peach Girl, Peach Girl Change of Heart, Peach Girl Sae's Story, etc.). Because the stories in manga series build upon each other--much like soap operas--a series designation in the record is key help for enjoying the format.
A big consideration when it comes to cataloging and subject headings will be the ability to locate titles in a series.
I'm not refering to actual serials publications such as the DC/Marvel/Cartoon Network subscriptions--Justice League/Fantastic Four/Cartoon Block Party, et al--but to those works with a continuing storyline and actually published in a series of individual volumes that may look like independent editions to the uninitiated. Manga usually falls into this category:
To support access and service to patrons, I believe we should include a series search function: have a title search pull up a series name with a list of volumes in numerical order, have a series line in each record listing the name of series and volume number, have a cross-reference link to a spin-off series (Peach Girl, Peach Girl Change of Heart, Peach Girl Sae's Story, etc.). Because the stories in manga series build upon each other--much like soap operas--a series designation in the record is key help for enjoying the format.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Describing Multi-Format Titles
by Beth Snow
Many teens search intuitively by format, so including format descriptions in the subject headings may make the collections more accessible than relying only on publication data in the descriptions.
Manga, comic strip collections, subscription/serial comics, and graphic novels each have distinguishable features. Teens easily recognize this and often search based upon these characteristics--why not "meet them where they are"? If they are looking for a title or character, let's be up front and indicate the format using a teen's lexicon: manga (for both traditional and Americanized front-to-back versions), comic strips (collections of comic strips appearing originally in paper or electronic format), graphic novels (fiction or non-fiction subject matter bound in book form--could put superhero compilations here perhaps--definitely includes illustrated classics).
But don't forget that a title can appear in more than one format and a person who's interested in one version will probably be interested in another. For example, here's a volume of Harvey Pekar's American Splendor comics and the movie American Splendor, both based on his life:
In this case the title is exactly the same - what role should description information and subject headings play in connecting both of these when you're searching?
Many teens search intuitively by format, so including format descriptions in the subject headings may make the collections more accessible than relying only on publication data in the descriptions.
Manga, comic strip collections, subscription/serial comics, and graphic novels each have distinguishable features. Teens easily recognize this and often search based upon these characteristics--why not "meet them where they are"? If they are looking for a title or character, let's be up front and indicate the format using a teen's lexicon: manga (for both traditional and Americanized front-to-back versions), comic strips (collections of comic strips appearing originally in paper or electronic format), graphic novels (fiction or non-fiction subject matter bound in book form--could put superhero compilations here perhaps--definitely includes illustrated classics).
But don't forget that a title can appear in more than one format and a person who's interested in one version will probably be interested in another. For example, here's a volume of Harvey Pekar's American Splendor comics and the movie American Splendor, both based on his life:
In this case the title is exactly the same - what role should description information and subject headings play in connecting both of these when you're searching?
Publishers
by Emily Barney and Maura McKee
Besides needing to be aware of major sources for collection development purposes, it's important to understand the "structure" behind comic book series, because many readers will. Publishers, especially for comic book titles, should be an easy field you can use in the catalog to search and retrieve lists of similar items.
Many of these materials are published by a short list of major distributors. If you're not familiar with comic books, you will find very useful information organized about them under the Wikipedia Category for US Comic book publishing companies, especially the DC or Marvel sections. See our Websites post for more examples of Wikipedia pages by genre.
Since many fans will follow characters across many titles within these publishers - and perhaps refer to them as fictional "worlds," like "Superman is in the DC Universe," it's a good idea to have a general understanding, especially for superhero comic books, which characters are published by which groups.
These lists are by no means comprehensive, but they'll give you a good start.
Besides needing to be aware of major sources for collection development purposes, it's important to understand the "structure" behind comic book series, because many readers will. Publishers, especially for comic book titles, should be an easy field you can use in the catalog to search and retrieve lists of similar items.
Many of these materials are published by a short list of major distributors. If you're not familiar with comic books, you will find very useful information organized about them under the Wikipedia Category for US Comic book publishing companies, especially the DC or Marvel sections. See our Websites post for more examples of Wikipedia pages by genre.
Since many fans will follow characters across many titles within these publishers - and perhaps refer to them as fictional "worlds," like "Superman is in the DC Universe," it's a good idea to have a general understanding, especially for superhero comic books, which characters are published by which groups.
These lists are by no means comprehensive, but they'll give you a good start.
- Major Comic Book Publishers
- DC - http://www.dccomics.com/
- Vertigo - http://www.dccomics.com/vertigo/
- Wildstorm - http://www.dccomics.com/wildstorm/
- Marvel - http://www.marvelcomics.com/
- Image Comics - http://www.imagecomics.com/
- Dark Horse - http://www.darkhorse.com/
- Major Graphic Novel Publishers
- Fantagraphics - http://www.fantagraphics.com/
- Drawn & Quarterly - http://www.drawnandquarterly.com/index.php
- Top Shelf Productions - http://www.topshelfcomix.com/
- Major Manga Publishers -
- TokyoPop - http://www.tokyopop.com/
- Viz Media - http://www.viz.com/
- for more, see the list of Manga Distributors in English on Wikipedia here
- Major Comics/Cartoons Publishers - (many mainstream publishers as well)
- Fantagraphics - http://www.fantagraphics.com/ (they do graphic novels & comics)
- Andrew McMeels - http://www.andrewsmcmeel.com/cartoon_books.html
- Archie Comics - http://www.archiecomics.com/
Awards
by Maura McKee and Emily Barney
Graphic novels have won awards in many categories, including a Pulitzer Prize for Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, a memoir of his father’s survival of the holocaust.¹ There are also many awards dedicated just to comic books by genre or for achievement in specific fields.
The Hahnl Library's Comic Book Awards Almanac includes a glossary that explains the differences between these awards, from festival awards to nominations, polls and special selection awards.
You can find more information about the different awards on specific pages on Wikipedia including "Comic Book Awards," "Anime and Manga Awards" and "Award-Winning Graphic Novels"
Examples of awards given in this field:
American Born Chinese, a graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang won the 2007 Michael L. Prinz Award for literary excellence in young adult literature. The novel interweaves three different stories:
Jeff Smith's Bone is the longest-running self-published series so far and has won more awards than any other comic in history. It began with the whimsical adventures of Phone Bone and developed into an intricate world with monsters and dragons waging war against the forest creatures under the leadership of a cow-racing grandmother. It was released between 1991 and 2004, as 55 irregularly-released issues that were printed in 9 individual volumes and eventually gathered into one major volume, pictured here. This series has won 44 awards in America and around the world, including 10 Eisner Awards and 11 Harvey Awards.²
More information about the artist and series is available at http://www.boneville.com/
Harvey Pekar and his wife Joyce Brabner wrote Our Cancer Year as he dealt with the discovery of his lymphoma and its treatment. The book was illustrated by Frank Stark, an award-winning professor of art at the University of Missouri. This volume won the 1995 best graphic album Harvey Award. Pekar had already won the American Book Award in 1987 for his American Splendor series. Pekar's life story -- including how he met and married Joyce Brabner, and how he experienced cancer and its treatment -- was made into an excellent film, American Splendor (2003).³
More information about the author and other graphic novels by him and his wife are available at http://www.harveypekar.com/
Linda Medley's Castle Waiting was in YALSA's 2007 Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens, and Booklist's Top 10 Graphic Novels for Youth. It has also won 2 Harvey Awards and 7 Eisner awards, including the 1998 Best New Series Eisner Award. Medley began the series in 1996 and volume one was published in 2006. The series begins with a short retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, but once she has left for her happily ever after the castle becomes a refuge for marginal fairy tale creatures and characters, telling stories of unconventional convents and enterprising uses of the goose who laid the golden egg.
More information about the author and her book is available here: http://www.fantagraphics.com/artist/medley/medley.html
Don Rosa's Life and Times of $crooge McDuck explains how the "richest duck in the world" won his fortune between 1877 and 1947. This historical fiction follows his adventures from Scotland to America and beyond to the African Transvaal, Australia, and the Klondike, encountering figures like Theodore Roosevelt. Published from April 1994 to February 1996, it won the 1995 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story and the 1995 Comic Buyers Guide Fan Awards for Favorite Comic Book
More information is available about the series on Don Rosa's "The IntroDUCKtion to the Life and Times of $crooge McDuck"
¹ Kakutani, Michiko. "Books of The Times; Rethinking the Holocaust With a Comic Book." New York Times. October 29, 1991
² "The History of BONE & Jeff Smith" http://www.boneville.com/bone/bone-history/
³ Kohn, Martin "Brabner, Joyce and Pekar, Harvey: Our Cancer Year" Literature, Arts & Medicine Database 14 April 2005 http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Annotation?action=view&annid=383
Graphic novels have won awards in many categories, including a Pulitzer Prize for Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, a memoir of his father’s survival of the holocaust.¹ There are also many awards dedicated just to comic books by genre or for achievement in specific fields.
The Hahnl Library's Comic Book Awards Almanac includes a glossary that explains the differences between these awards, from festival awards to nominations, polls and special selection awards.
You can find more information about the different awards on specific pages on Wikipedia including "Comic Book Awards," "Anime and Manga Awards" and "Award-Winning Graphic Novels"
Examples of awards given in this field:
- Eisner Award - FAQ on comic-con international website
- Given for creative achievement in American comic books; named in honor of comic book writer and artist Will Eisner
- Harvey Awards - http://www.harveyawards.org/
- This series, named after writer artist Harvey Kurtzman, includes awards for achievement in writing, art, humor, letterer, colorist, new talent, etc. with comic books.
- Ignatz Awards - http://www.spxpo.com/ignatz.shtml
- Named for the character in the classic comic strip Krazy Kat by George Herriman this is a festival prize that recognizes outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning with special prizes in ten different categories.
American Born Chinese, a graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang won the 2007 Michael L. Prinz Award for literary excellence in young adult literature. The novel interweaves three different stories: one is a folk tale of "The Monkey King", another is the story of a second-generation immigrant named Jin Wang, and the third is about Danny, a boy with a Chinese cousin named Chin-Kee. The book's climax merges all of these stories together.
More information about the author and the series is available at:
http://www.humblecomics.com/
More information about the author and the series is available at:
http://www.humblecomics.com/
Jeff Smith's Bone is the longest-running self-published series so far and has won more awards than any other comic in history. It began with the whimsical adventures of Phone Bone and developed into an intricate world with monsters and dragons waging war against the forest creatures under the leadership of a cow-racing grandmother. It was released between 1991 and 2004, as 55 irregularly-released issues that were printed in 9 individual volumes and eventually gathered into one major volume, pictured here. This series has won 44 awards in America and around the world, including 10 Eisner Awards and 11 Harvey Awards.²More information about the artist and series is available at http://www.boneville.com/
Harvey Pekar and his wife Joyce Brabner wrote Our Cancer Year as he dealt with the discovery of his lymphoma and its treatment. The book was illustrated by Frank Stark, an award-winning professor of art at the University of Missouri. This volume won the 1995 best graphic album Harvey Award. Pekar had already won the American Book Award in 1987 for his American Splendor series. Pekar's life story -- including how he met and married Joyce Brabner, and how he experienced cancer and its treatment -- was made into an excellent film, American Splendor (2003).³More information about the author and other graphic novels by him and his wife are available at http://www.harveypekar.com/
Linda Medley's Castle Waiting was in YALSA's 2007 Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens, and Booklist's Top 10 Graphic Novels for Youth. It has also won 2 Harvey Awards and 7 Eisner awards, including the 1998 Best New Series Eisner Award. Medley began the series in 1996 and volume one was published in 2006. The series begins with a short retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, but once she has left for her happily ever after the castle becomes a refuge for marginal fairy tale creatures and characters, telling stories of unconventional convents and enterprising uses of the goose who laid the golden egg.More information about the author and her book is available here: http://www.fantagraphics.com/artist/medley/medley.html
Don Rosa's Life and Times of $crooge McDuck explains how the "richest duck in the world" won his fortune between 1877 and 1947. This historical fiction follows his adventures from Scotland to America and beyond to the African Transvaal, Australia, and the Klondike, encountering figures like Theodore Roosevelt. Published from April 1994 to February 1996, it won the 1995 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story and the 1995 Comic Buyers Guide Fan Awards for Favorite Comic BookMore information is available about the series on Don Rosa's "The IntroDUCKtion to the Life and Times of $crooge McDuck"
¹ Kakutani, Michiko. "Books of The Times; Rethinking the Holocaust With a Comic Book." New York Times. October 29, 1991
² "The History of BONE & Jeff Smith" http://www.boneville.com/bone/bone-history/
³ Kohn, Martin "Brabner, Joyce and Pekar, Harvey: Our Cancer Year" Literature, Arts & Medicine Database 14 April 2005 http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Annotation?action=view&annid=383
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